182 posts
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Post by tom on Jun 18, 2020 12:10:41 GMT
Chose JCS but could have easily been Evita, LND or Phantom too. Like Sunset but as others say a bit repetitive.
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4,176 posts
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Post by anthony40 on Jun 18, 2020 12:31:47 GMT
For me it's a toss up between Aspects of Love and Sunset Boulevard.
I do have a soft spot for Evita.
I know I may be going against the popular consensus here but I love the film. It's really Antonio Bandaras' film. I love how it's a bit gritty and really shows the workers- the descamisados- of Argentina of the time
(Generally speaking) Lloyd Webber only tends to write several songs and repeats the underlying score throughout the whole show.
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1,970 posts
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Post by sf on Jun 18, 2020 12:43:51 GMT
For my money, Evita, and Evita and JCS are the ones I listen to most often.
For most of his shows after Evita I feel the same way: they each contain four or five things that are really wonderful, surrounded by a lot of musical sludge. And over the last twenty years or so he's pulled some really bad work out of a few really good lyricists, and also worked with some really bad lyricists. Post-Tim Rice, the quality of lyrics in his shows has dipped significantly.
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4,176 posts
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Post by anthony40 on Jun 18, 2020 12:55:23 GMT
Post-Tim Rice, the quality of lyrics in his shows has dipped significantly. I tend to (mostly) agree and when they did come back together to write 'You Must Love Me' it was glorious and despite some initial scepticism, it really worked well in the film. So much so that it has now become part of the stage show. I've always loved the 'Waltz for Eva and Che'. Again, something that worked incredibly well on film. |
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1,996 posts
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Post by distantcousin on Jun 18, 2020 13:19:20 GMT
Although Sunset is my favourite show and Phantom second, they aren't as uniformly strong (to me) in terms of score as Evita (normally my third choice) which for a start is sung-through, which I love, but has so many brilliant melodies and incisive lyrics.
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Post by distantcousin on Jun 18, 2020 13:21:16 GMT
For me it's a toss up between Aspects of Love and Sunset Boulevard. I do have a soft spot for Evita. I know I may be going against the popular consensus here but I love the film. It's really Antonio Bandaras' film. I love how it's a bit gritty and really shows the workers- the descamisados- of Argentina of the time (Generally speaking) Lloyd Webber only tends to write several songs and repeats the underlying score throughout the whole show. I love the film too - it was brilliant and my first introduction to the piece. Very powerful.
There is a little too much canonisation of the Harold Prince production.
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Post by stepha on Jun 18, 2020 13:26:16 GMT
I was surprised to find myself voting for Evita - so many highlights in many of these but in terms of the whole score, Evita pips the others. The first time I saw it performed, I was shocked at the strength of my response - the score just soars.
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182 posts
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Post by tom on Jun 18, 2020 14:35:20 GMT
For me it's a toss up between Aspects of Love and Sunset Boulevard. I do have a soft spot for Evita. I know I may be going against the popular consensus here but I love the film. It's really Antonio Bandaras' film. I love how it's a bit gritty and really shows the workers- the descamisados- of Argentina of the time (Generally speaking) Lloyd Webber only tends to write several songs and repeats the underlying score throughout the whole show. The film version of Evita is better than any of the productions I’ve seen. I love the score but they can never seem to stage it right for me. That awful Regent’s Park thing last year was by far the worst. |
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364 posts
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Post by dazzerlump on Jun 18, 2020 17:30:01 GMT
For me its always been Sunset and the orchestrations of the ELO and last tour were beautiful
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4,021 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Jun 18, 2020 18:54:40 GMT
Voted for Evita. Phantom would probably be my second choice. I do also like a lot of Cats but it's more an individual numbers score whereas Evita seems more cohesive. I know I may be going against the popular consensus here but I love the film. It's really Antonio Bandaras' film. I love how it's a bit gritty and really shows the workers- the descamisados- of Argentina of the time I love the film too - it was brilliant and my first introduction to the piece. Very powerful.
There is a little too much canonisation of the Harold Prince production.
I saw the film years before seeing it on stage & I too really like it. I've not seen the Harold Prince production so can't comment on that. While I've seen Evita live several times it's always been the Kenwright production (which I mostly like, though I know many don't). |
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Post by Fleance on Jun 18, 2020 18:58:07 GMT
I think Evita is the best, but I voted for Stephen Ward, partly because it doesn't get any respect and partly because I think it's a really good score. I've recently been listening to Joanna Riding's fine rendition of "I'm Hopeless When It Comes to You."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2020 22:13:22 GMT
Of the ones I've seen;
1 (voted). Jesus Christ Superstar
2. School of Rock
3/4. either Joseph or Phantom
5. The Wizard of Oz (If we're counting it)
6. Starlight Express (I actually only saw a small production of this at a hotel in Greece when I was 10 and don't really remember any of the songs other than when they sung I'm Your Man by Wham! at the end...for some reason).
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Post by justsaying113 on Jun 19, 2020 7:40:29 GMT
Love 'Evita' - maybe I'm biased because I saw the original production and cast as a teenager and was blown-away, not just by that score but by that truly ground-breaking Hal Prince staging, the raw energy of the whole thing (including a very sinister Joss Ackland as Peron - a proper fascist dictator!)) and, in Elaine Paige, simply one of the finest performances I've ever seen in musical theatre.
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Post by Scswp on Jun 21, 2020 18:12:07 GMT
Voted for Sunset. Love that score.
Evita and JCS are also exciting scores though.
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Post by chernjam on Jun 22, 2020 15:17:05 GMT
It was between Sunset and Aspects for me also. Aspects has a soft spot since it was the very first Musical I saw on Broadway by ALW in High School and I was amazed how entranced I was by the First Act - so many glorious melodies hearing them for the first time... When the curtain came down I was stunned than an hour had passed and couldn't imagine even more beautiful music to discover in Act II (There is more to love remains an all time favorite and Anything but lonely was incredibly crushing as sung by Ann Crumb, who inexplicably the high last note was not included on the recording)
But Sunset Blvd has the edge for me. Following with fascination the news of its opening and desperately trying to hear the music from it before the internet was really a thing only heightened my expectations. Seeing "World Premiere Recording" being sold as an "import" for an unseemly ammount of money especially as a poor college student (I think it was over $100 for the two disc set in New York and you couldn't find it anywhere) When I found it at this hole in a wall import CD store near my college for about $30 I damn well wet myself in the store.
Coming back to my dorm room and hearing the overture from my stereo for the first time and sitting there and listening with rapt attention for the full two hours - it was like falling in love. I sincerely remember finishing the two hours of music and starting over again.
I'm still a huge ALW fan and enjoy nearly all he's done but rarely have had experiences like that since.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2020 16:22:33 GMT
Sunset for me. Yes it can feel repetitive, but what great music to repeat. I can’t dip in and out though - I always have to listen start to finish and enjoy it all. Evita is a close second as I think almost every song works on its own. The addition of You Must Love Me was perfect too - very hard to imagine the show without it.
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146 posts
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Post by impossibleprincess73 on Jun 22, 2020 23:10:59 GMT
For someone who is a huge MT fan I'm really not an ALW fan in general, but I do love the score of Evita (with JCS being a very close second).
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Post by scarpia on Jun 23, 2020 9:55:01 GMT
Evita and Phantom (his two best shows overall, not just in terms of score). I also rate the scores for Sunset (gorgeous and evocative, though gets a bit repetitive), Aspects (shame about the libretto), and Superstar (always fresh and exciting).
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Post by justfran on Jun 23, 2020 21:33:15 GMT
My vote goes to Jesus Christ Superstar - it hooks you in right from the amazing overture! Even just thinking about some of the great songs - Heaven On Their Minds, Gethsemane, Could We Start Again Please - I can hear them in my head and it makes me want to listen to the soundtrack again (definitely on tomorrow’s to-do list now!).
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2020 22:33:05 GMT
There are many great ALW songs out there, but the best full score, imo, is Aspects.
The recording has the benefit of being almost complete, and it's sung through, so it's one of those that i can put on at the start, listen right through to the end and have a complete experience from it. The whole recording takes you on a journey. Yes, some of might get repetitive, but its the musical themes and motifs that make Aspects for me. Also, i love alot of the recitative. I love the orchestrations too and the amazing performances from the cast.
Sunset is very similar, but it all depends on what recording you listen too.
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Post by nick on Jun 24, 2020 18:08:30 GMT
Love 'Evita' - maybe I'm biased because I saw the original production and cast as a teenager and was blown-away, not just by that score but by that truly ground-breaking Hal Prince staging, the raw energy of the whole thing (including a very sinister Joss Ackland as Peron - a proper fascist dictator!)) and, in Elaine Paige, simply one of the finest performances I've ever seen in musical theatre. I'm in exactly the same position as you. Saw the original production and was blown away so......... I voted for JCS! Because JCS is the one I return to again and again rather than Evita. Evita is the better show but JCS has the better score. For the record I enjoyed BOTH productions (JCS and Evita) at Regent's Park. |
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Post by itsemily on Jun 25, 2020 12:21:56 GMT
I voted for Phantom, mainly for the overture for me it's just a sort of goose bump moment even though I've never seen it live just the 25th Anniversary DVD and the film! Feel like I should be biased towards Joseph as I was in it for a year and a half, but to me it's not his best although I do love it!
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Post by chernjam on Jun 26, 2020 4:30:23 GMT
Curious - all this alk of ALW scores made me remember that back in November the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was doing a premiere of three brand new orchestral suites of Sunset, Evita and Phantom. Does anyone know if they were recorded?
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5,142 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Jun 26, 2020 8:32:14 GMT
Curious - all this alk of ALW scores made me remember that back in November the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was doing a premiere of three brand new orchestral suites of Sunset, Evita and Phantom. Does anyone know if they were recorded? Yes...kinda! They were recorded by the BBC, and broadcast on the radio. There are a handful of reviews in the Andrew Lloyd Webber thread. |
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